Shen Jianfang brought her son and two daughters to Grandpa Shen's side. "Dad," she said.
"Grandpa," said Li Wanting, her voice as cold as her personality, a stark contrast to her name.
"Grandpa," Li Wanzhen's voice was soft and feminine.
"Grandpa," Li Chengxu, who had just started university, still had a hint of childishness about him.
"Eh, eh, eh."
Grandpa Shen responded to each of them, then looked at his eldest granddaughter.
"Wanting, you're a woman, don't be so cold."
"Mm," Li Wanting replied perfunctorily.
Grandpa Shen sighed, "It's my fault. If I hadn't told you to join the army, you wouldn't have become so cold."
"It's not your fault," this time, Li Wanting gave two words.
Grandpa Shen pushed away his eldest daughter, who was winking at him, and led his eldest granddaughter to Zeng Jingrong.
"Little Zeng, what do you think of Wanting? Can your team take her in?"
Zeng Jingrong sized up Li Wanting, whose posture was straight. "Special forces?"
"Yes!" Li Wanting reflexively stood at attention.
Zeng Jingrong shook his head. "A robot. We don't take robots."
Grandpa Shen sought help. "Xiao Tian, come here."
Shen Jianrong followed Tian Jing over.
Grandpa Shen impatiently pushed away his younger daughter, wondering why they were all such a nuisance.
"Xiao Tian, look at Wanting. She's being ruined. Take her into your specialty team and fix her."
Tian Jing looked at Li Wanting, who was as cold as ice, and asked Zeng Jingrong, "What's going on?"
Zeng Jingrong shook his head. "People like this have too much pressure. They train themselves too hard and become like machines."
"Our specialty team doesn't take people like that. They can't complete missions."
Tian Jing asked, "What about administrative work? Your specialty team is male-dominated. Someone is willing to sign a ten-year contract, and you won't take her?"
"We're not short-handed," Zeng Jingrong still shook his head. "Secretary and Shi Yi are already doing everything."
"They're doing everything?"
Tian Jing didn't believe it. "One does the trivial tasks, the other manages the archives. Who cleans the entire building?"
Zeng Jingrong actually knew this. "The cafeteria staff."
"That's chaotic! How can cafeteria staff go to the administration building?" Tian Jing pointed at Li Wanting. "Just have her work as a general helper."
Zeng Jingrong was displeased. "Why are you arranging things so carelessly?"
Tian Jing was even more displeased. "Don't you see she's treating herself like a block of ice?"
"You say she can't complete missions. Her original team must have said the same thing."
"A woman who tries to prove she's no worse than men, pushing herself to the brink, and then gets hurt. Are you men not going to take responsibility?"
Tears streamed down Li Wanting's face.
No one had ever understood her.
At first, everyone praised her, saying she was no worse than the boys.
Her father smiled, and her grandfather said with satisfaction that his granddaughter was also quite good.
For her parents, she tried her best.
She joined the special forces.
Her father smiled more, and her grandfather praised her more.
Her sister also received more attention from her grandfather because of her.
She became even more diligent, sleeping an hour later and waking up an hour earlier than others every day. She hoped she could be even better.
Finally, she overtrained, and her reflexes were affected.
She fell from her peak.
What followed were all sorts of blame and recrimination.
At this moment, Captain Tian, whom she had met for the first time, saw her problem at a glance and hit upon the grievance in her heart.
Her grievances could no longer be contained.
Grandpa Shen sighed, "It's my fault. Wanting's first pressure came from me."
Not only his two daughters but also his two daughters-in-law had given birth to girls for their first child.
After his eldest daughter had another girl for her second child, her life in the Li family became difficult.
This was because her two younger sisters-in-law had each given birth to two sons.
Wanting had a low and awkward status in the Li family.
It wasn't that he supported the patriarchal preference for sons within the family; rather, his generation, who had fought for their status with their lives, always hoped their descendants would continue their legacy.
Moreover, they would invest heavily in their eldest son, making the other sons suffer a bit, and then do their best to support the eldest son.
But if the eldest son had no grandson, the balance of the next generation would be broken.
And the grandson who became the eldest grandson would start from a much lower point, effectively wasting the resources of the son's generation.
There were not many resources left, and the eldest grandson might not be able to support the eldest son's position, and the eldest son might be unwilling to support his nephew...
All sorts of family conflicts would arise, and the family would fall into chaos.
Wanting also wanted to make an effort, so he intervened in the Li family's affairs and got Wanting into the army.
He repeatedly urged Wanting to work hard and prove that girls were no worse than boys...
Shen Jianfang looked at her crying eldest daughter helplessly.
Ever since she could remember, her eldest daughter had never cried.
Tian Jing gave her a nudge, and Shen Jianfang threw herself into her eldest daughter's arms.
She looked up at her eldest daughter, who was a head taller than her but so thin she had almost no flesh on her bones. Tears also streamed down her face.
"Wanting, blame me, Mom's stomach wasn't productive enough."
Tian Jing glanced at Li Jinghua and pretended not to know. "Is Sister Shen illiterate?"
Li Jinghua looked embarrassed. Could he say it was his sperm's fault?
"Ahem."
Zeng Jingrong coughed lightly. "Alright, stop crying. Since Captain Tian has spoken, she'll first join the specialty team as a clerk and see if she can recover."
Joining the specialty team!
Li Jinghua's face lit up. "Thank you, thank you, Captain Tian, thank you, Captain Zeng."
"Don't thank us yet," Zeng Jingrong waved at him. "Let's first ask the person involved if she's willing to stay in the specialty team for ten years."
Shen Jianrong hugged her eldest daughter's slender waist. "Wanting, this time, decide for yourself. Ten years of your youth, Mom doesn't need you to sacrifice so much."
Mom also understood her?
Li Wanting's eyes filled with tears again. "I'll go. I'll go."
Since the person concerned agreed, Zeng Jingrong placed his laptop on the dining table and started operating it.
"I'll issue the transfer order now. Your unit will notify you."
"I'm on a mission recently. Go to the specialty team and report to Li Weixin first. He's temporarily handling some of my affairs."
"Yes!" Li Wanting saluted Zeng Jingrong.
Then she turned and saluted Tian Jing. "Thank you, Captain Tian. I will strive to change."
When had her eldest daughter ever spoken such a long sentence?
Shen Jianfang wiped away her ceaseless tears. "Thank you, Captain Tian."
"You're welcome," Tian Jing waved. "We're family now. We help where we can."
Zhao Qilan nudged her husband. Shen Jianhui slapped his wife's hand away.
All three of his children were married, and none could outshine Wanting. He opened his mouth to scold his father.
His wife had no self-awareness. "Go help in the kitchen."
Zhao Qilan looked at her two sisters-in-law chatting happily with Tian Jing and glared at her husband before leaving the living room.
...
As soon as Ma Xingxiang entered the kitchen, she warned her two daughters never to judge people by their appearance or clothes again.
Shen Xiaohui and Shen Xiaojuan quickly asked what was wrong. What had happened in the living room? They had heard their grandfather yelling.
Ma Xingxiang sighed. "My previous fuss and tantrums were just means to an end. But someone directly used money to achieve her goals. Your aunt must feel quite stifled. Having such a powerful in-law family must be difficult for her. I just don't know what kind of status Tian Jing has."
"By the way, Xiaohui, do you know what KUSHANLI represents?"
"KUSHANLI?"
Not only Shen Xiaohui and Shen Xiaojuan were surprised, but Shen Xiaoping and Shen Xiaoqin were also shocked. "Auntie, is Ziyu's partner from KUSHANLI?"
Ma Xingxiang nodded. "Presumably? Your uncle said he guessed it based on the local specialties and the grand gesture of spending a million to marry Ziyu."
"A million?"
The four sisters' attention shifted again. "A million for the betrothal gift?"
"No," Ma Xingxiang shook her head. "Fifty thousand for the betrothal gift, plus buying a house locally, and thirty thousand for renovation. And the seven-seater car bought before the year, which should be the white seven-seater car you just saw."
"Ziyu also said she received over twenty thousand as a gift."
Over twenty thousand as a gift?
The four sisters' eyes turned red with envy.
Back then, they had received a thousand as a gift and were very proud. Because at that time, a thousand yuan gift was already quite high.